Newmont questions police's Buyat Bay mercury tests

Newmont questions police's Buyat Bay mercury tests

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

PT Newmont Minahasa Raya questioned on Thursday the laboratory
test results from the police on water and fish tissue samples
from Buyat Bay, North Sulawesi, which were inconsistent with
tests run by other institutions.

The U.S.-based gold mining company's external relations
manager, David Sompie, said all other tests conducted by several
internationally and nationally certified laboratories indicated
that the levels of mercury and arsenic in seawater were far below
the standard set by the Office of the State Minister of the
Environment, while the police tests showed the bay was
contaminated.

Newmont has made headlines since a report surfaced two months
ago that local fishermen of the bay were suffering from skin
diseases that might have been caused by pollution.

The company has been operating in the region since 1996, and
will cease production next month.

Police are questioning dozens of people as witnesses, but have
not named any suspects as yet.

David said tests of 390 samples conducted by ALS laboratory
showed only 0.055 microgram/Liter (u/L) of mercury in the bay,
while tests by Sarpedal and CSIRO found almost the same level of
mercury, respectively 0.059 u/L from 11 samples and 0.05 from 16
samples.

Ministerial Decree No. 51/2004 on seawater pollution sets the
mercury level standard at 1 u/L.

On Wednesday, police said their tests showed that mercury
content in Buyat Bay measured 5.5 u/L, 4 u/L and 3.9 u/L in three
samples taken from different locations.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung
Sudjono said based on these results, the police concluded that
the bay was contaminated by heavy metals.

David said the disparate results might have been caused by
different test methods or samples used by the institutions.

"It should be made clear whether the police measured the total
mercury content or only the dissolved mercury level in the water
of the bay, because the first will produce far higher results
than the latter," he said.

David said the 1 u/L standard referred to the level of
dissolved mercury, not total mercury content.

Newmont lawyer Palmer Situmorang said the government
environmental office had declared the bay was not contaminated,
and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries had said fish
from the bay was safe to eat.

Palmer said the apparent differences in test results as
reported by the press could not be confirmed because Newmont had
not received official test results from the police.

"We trust the professionalism of the police to handle this
case, but if the results as reported by the press are correct, we
must question the results of tests that vary so dramatically from
those of certified laboratories," he said.

The company recommended that a certified laboratory with a
global reputation be hired to test and evaluate samples
independently to resolve the matter.

Separately, in reference to the company's impending closure,
president director Richard Ness said Newmont had provided US$15
billion toward a community development program as part of its
post-operational activities.

"This is part of our long-standing commitment and respect for
the community," said Ness.

He added that another $6 billion would be disbursed to develop
a feasible business for the local community.